Good afternoon my fellow lacquered lovers! This post is not going to be my usual, but I promise there will be a manicure at the end to make it nail polish related! Last night, I had a really unique and crazy experience in NYC. There is a show that opened last year called Sleep No More. It's creepy, film noir-esque, Shakespeare inspired, full of Hitchcock references and all around strange. It's set in a 1930's hotel and all the actors are in period clothing (when they are not running around half or fully naked.)
Above: Photo of props courtesy of Caitlin Hart
This show is very loosely based on Macbeth and it takes place in a 100,000 square foot warehouse in Chelsea. The idea behind this show is that it's immersive theater (according to the production company called PunchDrunk) and it breaks down the 4th wall between actors and the audience. The premise is that the audience members are welcome to roam around the entire "set" complete with being encouraged to try to open doors that are closed, look in every nook and cranny and touch everything but the actors. The set itself, since it's 100,000 square feet, is 6 floors with over 100 rooms. It's intense and crazy with everything from a forest to a ballroom to a hospital to lots of bathtubs to a hotel lobby to a bar. The actors play out their scenes without much speaking and with LOTS of running so if you want to catch the actors, you have to run to keep up with them!
Yeah, I know, that sounds bizarre. I thought so too but I was also intrigued and after doing a bit of research, my boyfriend and I bought tickets as did our good friend Cait and last night was the big night. It was intense, dark, exciting, anxiety inducing and incredible. We really didn't know what to expect except for the fact that we knew the audience would be in masks and the actors wouldn't be so you could tell the difference. Here is what our masks were like:
So now imagine running around this huge space with hundreds of people wearing these masks. It's very "Eyes Wide Shut" but it was a great way to feel voyeuristic while keeping the audience separate from the actors. Now I'm not going to bore you with all of the details but the amazing thing about this experience is that you are encouraged to split up from the people you came with so you all have your own unique experiences. My personal experience involved chasing an actor around for most of the time and watching him do crazy acrobatics, interact with other characters, dance, cry, and at one point, he made me help him put his socks on. I also witnessed murders, ballroom dancing, a rave, a banquet and a very odd scene with a witch collecting the tears of a young girl. And my personal favorite, the candy store:
Don't worry, I didn't steal it, we were encouraged to try it! They also had all sorts of goodies like licorice and gummy bears! It was pretty awesome. Now I realize this probably sounds fairly nonsensical and feel free to google the show to try and get more information, but if you are a fellow New Yorker and you don't mind stepping out of the box a bit, then this show is an incredible experience! Just make sure you were a t shirt and sneakers because you WILL be running around for approximately 2 1/2 hours and your adrenaline WILL be running! My personal favorite little touch is the "room key" they give you whose purpose is to split you up from the people you come in with so you have to explore on your own and stagger your start times:
So yeah, it's weird but also incredible. The set is so detailed, the actors must be part bionic to do what they do, and it's really cool that everyone has their own experience. After it was over and the three of us came down off our adrenaline high, it was amazing how different all of our experiences were. The boyfriend saw an entire floor that I never did, our friend saw characters we never did and I interacted with the actors twice! It's impossible to explain or recreate, just know that it's awesome and experimental and really impressive.
And now, to make it polish related, here is the macabre manicure I did to fit in with the theme of the night:
The base of this manicure was China Glaze Pelican Grey and then I topped it on one hand with Lacquistry Shredded and the other with Lacquistry Devil's Dandruff and did a coordinating accent nail on each hand. It was a kind of creepy manicure that reminded me of dark things and all the creepiness that Macbeth embodies!
So I know this wasn't my usual posts but I hope you guys enjoyed hearing about my crazy experience! The show is definitely worth it if you are a New Yorker or plan on coming to New York and want to experience something truly unique.
What did you guys think of this post? Did it make sense at all? :) What did you think of the manicure?
